Yarn clearer



Oct. 27, 1959 c. B. CRANDALL I 2,999,823

YARN CLEARER Filed Au. :1, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet l IN VEN TOR. [HA M [5 19. NM mm 1 n I I 'J" IlllllllfillllllIllllllllllllllllllllilllllllll AT TORNE VS Oct 27, 1959 c. B. CRANDALL 2,909,828

YARN CLEARER Filed Aug. 51, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. [HA/Pl [5B RAM/0A1 Z.

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TTORNEVS United States Patent Ofiiice 2,969,828 'Y'ARN CLEARE 1% Charles 11; Crimean; Loves Park, 111., assignorto Barber.-

Co'lman Company, Rockford, Ill.; a corporation of Illinois Application August 31', 1956, serial No. 661,401 11 Claims. ((31.28-64) invention is an improvement in clearing devices of the type disclosed in Patent No. 2,122,989. In such devices, the thread being wound runs between a guide surface and a gripper engageable by an enlarge-' ment or so-called slub on the thread and movable-by such enlargement toward said surface to pinch the thread and force breakage thereof.

The primary object is to provide a yam clearer of the above character which is selective in its action and adapted to pass without breaking slubs of less than a desired length which do not detract from the quality of certain fabrics. I

A second object is to limit movement of thegripper into pinching engagement with the thread by means of a stop movable under the automatic control of an auxiliary thread feeler which senses the presence of passing slubs.

A third object is to achieve the selective action of the gripper by causing the latter to lag behind the feeler by an interval corresponding to the length of the passing slub.

A fourth object is to delay the pinching action of the gripper by adjusting the' relative masses of the gripper and feeler.

A fifth object is to utilize the feeler itself as a-slub catcher for forcing breakage of the thread in response to' the passage of slubs of predetermined diameter irrespective of the length thereof.

The invention also resides in the novel manner of mounting the gripper and feeler toprovide overall compactness and to permit of bodily adjustment of the two to permit easy cleaning.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying draiwings, in which 1 Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a yarn clearing device embodying the novel features of the present invention, the section being taken along the line 1-1 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a plan view with certain of the parts broken away and shown in section along the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3'is a fragmentary perspective view of the feeling and gripping fingers-of'the device.

Fig. 4 is a front view.

Figs. 5 to 8 are enlarged fragmentary sections showing the parts in different positions at various stages in its operation;

Generally stated, the improved yarn clearer operates to sense the presence of slubson a thread 10 running endwise along a guide surface 11 and to distinguish selectively between short slubs 12 (Fig. l) and long slubs 13 and, in response to the detection of a long slub, permit a gripper 14 to come into pinching engagement with the thread and force breakage thereof, the gripper being held inactive during the passage of a shorter slub 12.

The backing surface 11 may be theface of an upstanding plate 15 fulcrumed at 16 on a frame 17 'a finger 22 projecting generally horizontally toward the Patented Oct. 27, 1959 and urged by a spring 18 against a stop screw 19 by which the position of the surface may be adjusted for use of the clearing device with threads of different diameters or for detecting the presence of slubs of different diameters. In its endwise travel upwardly along the guide surface, the thread winds around and across parallel rods 20 spaced along the thread in advance and beyond the guide surface.

As in prior yarn clearing devices of the pinching type, the gripper 14 preferably comprises the free end 21 of running thread and fulcrumed on a rod 23 for swingingfrom a normal disengaged position (Fig. 5) in a direction diagonally of the thread and into pinching engagement with the latter as shown in Fig. 8. Herein, opposite ends of the rod 23 are, in this instance, supported by sleeves 24 and 25 mounted in spaced portions 26 and 27 (Fig. 4) of a rocks'haft 28. One end of the latter is journaled in the frame 17 for angular adjustment to permit the clearing device as a unit to be'swung out of normal active position to facilitate cleaning thereof.

The gripper finger may take the form of a blade having spaced lugs 29 on its opposite edge wrapped around the rod 23 to provide the desired pivotal mounting. The active edge of the gripper may be serrated as shown in Fig. 3 to grip the thread in different positions, the bottom of the groove between adjacent serrations terminating in a sharp end 30 (Fig. 5) capable of severing the thread when pinching the latter against the backing surface 11 as illustrated in Fig. 8.

In its normal position, the gripper finger 22 is slightly inclined downwardly from the horizontal with the edge 21 spaced from the guide surface 11 a distance slightly greater than the normal diameter of the running thread 10; When a slub comes along having a thickness larger than this spacing, the edge digs into the slub and is carried ahead with the latter and thus moved closer to the surface 11 thereby pinching the thread and forcing th'e'break. The rockshaft 28 may be turned to move the gripper well away from the guide surface to open a passage and facilitate cleaning of the clearing device.

In accordance with the present invention, the move ment of the gripper 14 toward and into pinching engagement with the running thread 10 is limited by abutment with a stop 31 movable under the automatic control of an auxiliary thread feeler 32 itself adapted to sense the presence of passing slubs. The gripper follows up the feeler motion but lags behind the feeler by an interval corresponding accurately to the length of the slubs to be passed without breaking the thread. By controlling the amount of the lag of the gripper as described later, the latter is rendered selective in its action and allowed 'to come into effective engagement with the thread only when the passing slub exceeds the desired length.

In the present instance, the feeler 32 is a blade-like finger similar to the gripper in general shape and mounting. The blade is bifurcated along one edge to form lugs 33 disposed adjacent the lugs 29 and wrapped around the rod 23 to permit swinging of the blade and movement of the free edge 34 along the path of travel of the thread. The finger'32 lies adjacent and above the gripper blade 14 so that in the normal positions of the parts, the edge 34 is adapted to feel of the thread at a point spaced a short distance ahead of the gripper 14. Thus, the gripper blade is inclined downwardly somewhat from the fulcrum 23 while the feeler blade is disposed substantially horizontally as shown in Fig. 5.

A point intermediate the edges of the feeler 32 preferably forms the stop 31 for limiting the movement of the gripper toward the running thread. ,This point is determined by a pin 35 anchored in and projecting upwardly from the gripper blade 14. A spring 36 of the torsion type coiled about the rod 23 acts at one end 37 on one of the lugs 29 to urge the gripper blade upwardly and toward the stop 31. The opposite end of the spring is anchored at 38 on the sleeve 25 which, after loosening a set screw 39, may be turned on the rod 23 to thereby adjust the force exerted by the spring.

Normally, that is when there is no slub on that portion of the thread passing the free edge 34- of the feeler, the latter is disposed in the position shown in Fig. 5 in which the feeler abuts against a stop in the form of a rod 40 (Figs. 3 and 5) rigid with one end of the rockshaft 23 and disposed parallel to the fulcrum rod 23. A torsion spring 41 coiled about the rod 23 bears at one end 42 downwardly against the feeler blade and normally holds the latter against the stop as shown in Fig. 5. The other end of the spring is anchored on the sleeve 24 which after loosening a screw 43 may be turned to adjust the magnitude of the spring force urging the feeler against the stop 40.

With the feeler thus constructed and mounted, the parts will be disposed in the positions shown in Fig. 5 in the absence of a slub or enlargement on that portion of the thread then passing the ends 34 and 21 of the feeler and gripper. That is to say, the feeler will be disposed substantially horizontally with its end spaced from the backing surface 11 a short distance about 25 percent greater than the normal diameter of the thread being operated on. This spacing may be varied by adjusting the position of the backing plate 11.

At the same time, the free edge 21 of the gripper 14 is spaced a greater distance away from the guide surface 11, for example, .025 of an inch, beyond the end 34 of the feeler when the grip-per is contacting the stop 31 on the feeler as shown in Fig. 5. This permits the passage of short slubs 12 which are only long enough to engage the edge 34 of the feeler 32 for a short length of time. Thus, it will be seen that if the feeler is, by a passing slub of substantial length, held away from the stop 40 for a long enough interval, the gripper will, under the action of the spring 36, follow up the movement of the feeler thereby moving its end 21 toward and into engagement with the thread 10.

The invention also contemplates a novel correlation of the constructions of the feeler 32 and gripper 14 so as to control the follow-up action above referred to and thereby render the gripper selective in its action so as to pass slubs of less than a predetermined unobjectionable length but to force a break in the thread when the passing slub is of greater length. This selective action may be achieved simply and conveniently by correlating the masses of the feeler and gripper, the gripper being of greater mass and therefore inertia so as to lag behind the feeler as the latter is moved away from the stop 40 by a passing slub. Such a greater mass is achieved by making the gripper blade thicker than the feeler blade. Also, the amount of the lag is governed by the forces exerted by the spring 41 which affords a convenient means for adjusting the lag and thus adapting a gripper of given mass to select slubs of different lengths. As an example, with a feeler weighing 6.9 grains and under a spring pressure of 26 grains and with the gripper weighing 16.1 grains and biased by a spring pressure of 13 grains, it was found to be possible to select and pass slubs of an inch long while breaking the thread in response to the passage of slubs exceeding such length with the thread traveling at 1208 yards per minute.

In operation, the feeler is disposed against the stop 4% and the gripper engages the feeler at 31 (Fig. 5) when there is no slub on that portion of the thread passing the feeler end 34. When a slub reaches and engages this end, the latter is carried along with the slub and the feeler 32 is thus cammed upwardly and away from the stop 40 and against the force of the spring 41 as the slub comes between the feeler end and the guide surface 11 as shown in Fig. 6. Owing to the greater mass and inertia of the gripper 14, the position of the latter remains fixed for an instant in spite of the force of the spring 36 inducing the gripper to follow up the advance of the feeler stop 31. Thus, if the slub is short enough to pass the feeler before the inertia of the gripper has been overcome and the latter started to move (see Fig. 6), the feeler will, under the action of the spring 41, be swung back against the stop 40 thereby repositioning the stop 31 to block the gripper and prevent movement of its end 21 into active engagement with the thread.

Now, if the length of the passing slub 13 (Fig. 7) is greater than a predetermined amount determined by the mass of the gripper as above described, the feeler 32 will be held away from the stop 40 an interval long enough for the spring 36 to overcome the inertia of the gripper and swing the gripper upwardly far enough to bring its end 21 into engagement with the thread. The end thus pinches the thread against the guide surface 11 so as to force breakage of the thread as illustrated in Fig. 8.

After such breakage, the supporting shaft 28 is rocked to swing the feeler and gripper ends away from the backing surface 11. The next length of the thread may thus be moved sidewise in between these ends and the surface 11 thus reconditioning the device for reuse in the intended manner.

The feeler 32, when constructed and mounted as above described, is adapted to perform the additional function of forcing a thread break in response to the passage of a slub of greater than a predetermined diameter irrespective of the length of such slub. In this respect, the feeler acts the same as the gripper in prior clearing devices. For this purpose, a pin 44 may be mounted in the cut away portion of the rockshaft 28 projecting parallel to the axis of the latter and overlying the feeler so as to be engaged by the latter when the feeler has swung upwardly to the position shown in Fig. 6. In this position the pin backs up the feeler so that the latter forces breaking of the thread in response to the passage of slubs of greater than a diameter predetermined by the setting of the pin.

It will be observed that the above described functions are performed by a structure not materially more complicated or larger than the single purpose device heretofore used. Moreover, in performing the separate functions, the device is easily adjustable to suit different sizes of thread and dilferent slub dimensions.

I claim as my invention:

1. A yarn clearing device having, in combination, a stationary surface backing a running thread, a stop, a feeler normally urged against said stop but engageable with a passing slub on said thread and movable therewith away from said stop, a gripper urged in the direction of travel of said thread into a normal position in abutment with said feeler, means on said gripper for engaging said thread to break the same after movement of the gripper beyond said normal position, and means operable on said gripper and acting upon movement of said feeler by a passing slub to retard the follow-up movement of the gripper and thereby allow the passage of slubs of less than a preselected length.

2. In a thread clearing device, the combination of, a surface providing a backing for a running thread, a gripper normally spaced from said surface and movable toward the latter to grip said thread and force a break therein, a fixed stop, and a feeler normally biased against said stop and engageable by a passing slub on said thread and moved thereby away from said stop, said feeler forming a movable stop holding the gripper inactive while the feeler is engaging said stop.

3. A thread clearer as defined in claim 2 in which said gripper incorporates means for retarding the follow-up movement of the gripper during the initial movement of said feeler away from said stop.

4. :In a thread clearing device, the combination of, a surface providing a backing for a running thread, a fixed stop spaced from said surface, a pivoted feeler finger projecting toward said thread and normally urged yieldably against said stop but movable away from the latter upon engagement by a passing slub on said thread, and a pivoted gripper finger projecting toward said thread and urged in the direction of travel of said thread to a normal position out of active engagement with the thread, said gripper, upon movement of said feeler away from said stop, moving into engagement with and gripping said thread to force a break therein.

5. In a yarn clearing device, the combination of, a backing surface for guiding a running thread, a feeler engageable with said thread and movable along said surface and the path of travel of the thread by slubs on the thread passing the feeler, a stop engageable with said feeler and normally spacing the latter from said surface by a distance approximating the normal diameter of the thread, means urging said feeler in a direction opposite to the thread travel and normally holding the feeler against said stop, a gripper movable into pinching engagement with said thread to force breakage of the thread, and a second stop on said feeler abutting said gripper and normally holding the latter inactive during the passage of slubs of less than a predetermined length.

6. A clearing device as defined in claim 5 in which said feeler and gripper comprise the free ends of fingers each swingable about an axis spaced from said thread and backing surface.

7. A clearing device as defined in claim 5 in which said feeler and gripper comprise the free ends of fingers about a common axis extending transversely of and spaced from said thread.

8. A clearing device as defined in claim 5 in which said feeler and gripper comprise the free ends of fingers each swingable about an axis spaced from said thread and backing surface, said free ends being spaced along the path of travel of the thread.

9. A clearing device as defined in claim 5 in which said feeler and gripper comprise the free ends of fingers each swingable about an axis spaced from said thread and backing surface, said free ends being spaced along the path of travel of the thread with the feeler end engageable with the thread at a point spaced along the latter ahead of the gripper end.

10. In a yarn clearing device of the character described, a guide forming a backing for a running thread, first and second fingers projecting toward said thread on the side thereof opposite said guide for engagement of their ends with passing slubs, said first finger end being disposed closer to said backing, and means supporting said fingers for movement of said free ends diagonally of and along the path of travel of said thread and into pinching engagement therewith, said first finger constituting a stop for limiting the movement of the other finger end toward the thread.

11. A thread clearing device as defined in claim 5 in which the mass of said gripper is substantially greater than that of said feeler whereby the gripper lags behind the feeler as the latter moves away from said first stop.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,814,353 Webber July 14, 1931 2,572,837 Brink Oct. 30, 1951 2,657,450 Solliday et a1 Nov. 3, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 596,999 Great Britain Jan. 15, 1948 

